European press publishers regret unsatisfactory outcome on e-Evidence

EMMA and ENPA take note of the adoption of the e-Evidence Regulation by the European Parliament during the current Plenary session. After working on this file directly as well as with a coalition with other media, journalists, and fundamental rights’ associations, we regret that the final text does not provide adequate guarantees of the protection of journalists, journalistic sources and editorial secrecy, which are preconditions of press freedom.

While the Commission Proposal has been improved on certain aspects such as the recognition of “rules on determination and limitation of criminal liability relating to freedom of press and freedom of expression in other media”, we regret that in the trilogue negotiations the European Parliament compromised on fundamental safeguards foreseen in its report. As such, the final text falls short of necessary guarantees of press freedom and might be misused to the detriment of journalists and their sources. For instance, the mandatory notification procedure we and the coalition advocated for has been restricted by a “residence criterion” that significantly reduces the notification’s application and leaves in all other cases journalists and their sources exposed to the risk of their data being accessed without their knowledge.

Ilias Konteas, Executive Director of EMMA – ENPA, said: “The protection of journalists and their sources must be upheld with utmost importance. While the European Media Freedom Act in Article 4 recognises the critical role of a free press for democracy and introduces guarantees against political interferences, surveillance and spyware, today’s result on e-Evidence risks to be a blow in the opposite direction.”